In this dissertation the most important metrical forms displayed in the poetry of Eugenio Montale are analysed according to two Generative metrical theories: Nespor & Vogel (1986) (N&V) and Fabb & Halle (2008) (F&H). The two approaches are compared in the final chapter, where I suggest that shortcomings in both theories can be avoided by integrating the two.

Chapter 1, by listing the most relevant traits of metrical form, introduces the reader to what Generative Metrics is concerned with, and argues that it can best explain the relation of such traits, both in general and in Italian in particular. I conclude that theoretical shortcomings highlighted by Italian readings of generative metrical studies can be solved by modelling metrics on the computational theory of mind.

In chapter 2, I spell out the technicalities of both theories. Particular attention is devoted to what explanations and analytical tools are made available by each theory. In 2.3, I compare the two approaches and review competing theories (in particular Optimality Theory), providing reasons for not having adopted them in this study.

Chapter 3 analyzes Montale's endecasillabo along the lines N&V proposed for the same meter in Dante's Inferno. After introducing the metrical template, I give detailed examples of how the meter is derived from the actual lines. I conclude that N&V's rules fully hold for Montale's canonical endecasillabo. In section 3.2 I turn to non-canonical forms, such as endecasillabo di 5a (that is, endecasillabo with a primary ictus on the 5th position), that are predicted to be unmetrical in the N&V's system. Here I show that though it is possible to account for them in N&V, this requires abandoning its fundamental tenet, namely the iambic template.

In chapter 4 I apply F&H to Montale's endecasillabo. I spell out scansion procedure, as well as the specific rules and conditions for endecasillabo. After constructing the grids for the different patterns, I scan the same non-canonical forms seen in 3. Here, F&H's system proves more flexible, as it accounts for every aspect of these forms without denying its starting assumptions.

Chapter 5 shows how both theories may be applied to different metrical forms. Scansions with both theories are provided for longer lines (versi lunghi), such as tredecasillabi e dodecasillabi, and for the imitation of classical meters known as metrica barbara, both attested in the corpus. More specifically, the scansion with N&V shows how an additional prosodic constituent, the prosodic word needs to be made available to the metrical representation; F&H applies here a specific computation for loose metrical forms, instead, ruling out some syllables within the line with no reference to phonological constituency and gets the 5-feet structure.

Chapter 6 argues that the scansion of non-canonical forms sheds further light on the relation between N&V and F&H. Namely, their differences can be understood in terms of an externalised metrics and an internalized metrics, dubbed E-metrics and I-metrics. I further argue that this is a reason for preferring the latter as a general theory of metrical form, and the former as theory of how metrical form may be implemented in a given corpus. Accordingly, an F&H based metrical grammar for Italian meters is proposed: the problems encountered in the previous analysis are solved by assuming the metrical input to be a representation of prosodic structure (ProsExF&H). I argue that this is also consistent with current approaches to literary language. I finally conclude with an account of the complexity of interactions among the components of this grammar, and with an appendix on caesura rules in Montale's poetry.
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